This invention relates to a dispensing device for dispensing articles, and more particularly, to a dispenser for premoistened towels or tissues, wherein the dispenser has a removable closure with a slitted opening therethrough through which the towels or tissues and the like are removed one at a time.
The slitted opening, as contemplated herein, encompasses narrow slots where the sides of the opening are not in contact with each other as well as those where the sides are in contact with each other but can be displaced to define the opening. The essential requirement is that the opening be too narrow to permit convenient withdrawal of the contents of the container by merely inserting one's fingers therein.
An example of a prior art dispenser of the type with which this invention is concerned is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,017,002. In order to initiate threading of towels through the slitted opening in the dispenser described in this patent, it is necessary for the user to push a leading part of a towel through the slitted opening, e.g., with a finger, so that it may be grasped from outside the container to thereafter draw the towel from the container through the slitted opening, The towels are arranged in the container such that withdrawal of one towel causes threading of a subsequent towel through the slitted opening so that it may be grasped.
Another type of dispenser is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,101,026, in which a threading implement or device 6 is used for withdrawing an initial towel from the container. However, in this patent, the threading device or implement is separate from the container and after its initial use may become lost or misplaced.
In a dispensing device currently on sale, the closure cap has a finger tab integral therewith, which could, in theory, be employed as a threading device to initiate dispensing. However, the finger tab of this device, which contains an aperture in the mid-portion thereof, is of a size, rigidity and alignment such that it would be highly impractical to employ it in this manner.